Shiori
"I told Hayato we should've just kicked them out, because no, you can not do that to a mocha." Shiori Kita is a Shopkeeper from Week 14 and a Support Reaper from Week 15 of The Reaper's Game. He transferred to Shibuya from Kawasaki for rehabilitation. Unless forced, he doesn't intend to return to his home town. During Week 15 Shiori finally worked a game in his new district and had a few emotional revelations along the way about who he is and where he fits in. Appearance Shiori is a slender young man of average height with steel blue eyes and two-tone dyed hair. He has a milky complexion and his hair is medium length and layered - the longest parts of it coming to just above his shoulders. If he goes out, he usually pins the front of his hair back. Very rarely you might be able to catch him at home with his hair falling naturally and without hairspray. Very rarely. Personality With a dry, out of touch sense of humor and a tendency to be in-genuine, Shiori's face-level personality leaves much to be desired. He has a hard time feeling connected with people regardless of how social interaction goes and this often leaves him feeling left out. While he's aware that this is a problem, he has no idea how to solve it and spends a lot of time lamenting his social oddities. The disconnect between how he experiences social interaction and how he's been told most people experience it has been a source of great frustration for him. His time in Shibuya and the friends he's made have helped him feel more at peace with how he is vs. how the world tells him he should be. When he isn't suffering from social vagrancy, Shiori could be easily described as fun-loving, mischievous, and...well, a brat. Deep down he knows how to have a good time and once he stops thinking so much about how people are perceiving his actions he's a lot easier to get along with. He doesn't typically mean any harm when he crosses the line or upsets someone, but it's easy for him to forget how his actions or words might affect someone else. A good punch to the face usually sets him right, as Cheer discovered early on in their friendship. History Pre-Game Up until his teenage years, Shiori was a pretty average kid. He grew up the only child from a wealthy household. Much of his future bad behavior would come about from never really being told "no" in his life or having to live with the consequences of his actions. He did alright in school, nothing really wonderful to report on that front. His whole life, Shiori has struggled with feeling empathy for other people. Understandably, this has kept healthy relationships just out of his grasp for the most part. When he was 11, he made friends with a boy who would later encourage him to truly care for other people. With his friend's help, he had begun to experience empathy properly and was being encouraged to start turning his life around. He barely made it through school...but directly after began indulging in his every whim once more, much to his family and friend's disdain. In the few months leading up to his death, Shiori spent a lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing good. He was self-serving, easily bored, and set to move a mile a minute. Never home, Shiori could be found reveling in any under-life his city could offer. Drinking, vandalism, petty theft; done without any consideration and it never did him any real harm. He considered this sharp rise in unethical activity to be his last hurrah before starting to turn things around. "Just one more time." Those words would end up being his legacy. Shiori's actions finally caught up with him on March 21st 2014 as he drunkenly stumbled into a busy street and directly into the path of a moving vehicle. The "friends" he'd been with fled the scene before the driver even got out of the car. By the time paramedics arrived it was too late. The offer to play in the Reaper's Game was one he wasn't about to say no to. Death had been a much needed slap in the face, one his tireless friend had not been able to give him in life. He thought if he could just win and go back, he could set everything right. Shiori's Game as a Player (Kawasaki) April 6th-12th 2014 The week of Shiori's game was hands down the hardest thing he's ever done. Fueled by what he describes as a "desperate need" to return to life, he was determined to do whatever it took to make it out alive. Then-Reaper Jean Duvert took up personal issue with Shiori's attitude and hunted him throughout the weak. He came close to erasing him at their first confrontation. Shiori's narrow escape was thanks to his first partner who took the brunt of Jean's attack and was erased. This happened a second time as well, leaving Shiori to finish the game with his third partner but notably not within the top four players and thus unable actually win the game. It could be heavily speculated Shiori only even lived through the game because Jean was so hell-bent on erasing him. Had he not been running away the entire time, it's much more likely he would have been erased. Faced with the option of replaying the game for another chance at winning or becoming a Reaper, Shiori opted for the latter and resigned himself to never really returning to the life he left behind despite badly wanting to. Week 14 When Week 14 came around, Shiori had been settled in to Shibuya long enough to want to play and just short enough to know that was a bad idea. Part of his rehabilitation from Kawasaki was learning to function without relying on the adrenaline of The Reaper's Game and, namely, erasures. Ultimately, he came to the decision that playing would have been a bad idea. Thanks to his pre-existing part time job at Riverbend Cafe in Dogenzaka, Shiori was able to keep an eye on how Shibuya's game works and developed more of a comfort level with the district as a result. Working as a shopkeeper during the week gave Shiori an opportunity he never had in Kawasaki: getting to know the Players. Kawasaki's Game made him forget that Players are just people trying to hold on to a chance. During this week, Shiori found himself getting attached to a couple of the Players and actually rooting them on, namely Chiyo and Seikyo. By the end of the week, he was relieved to see them make it out alive. Week 15 Shiori's first official game in Shibuya appears to be going fairly smoothly. He completely missed Manami and Rikuto's erasure and apparently has no idea anything bad has actually happened yet. On Day 2 he ran a wall barring off Hachiko in which the Players were given the use of his extensive makeup collection to do their partner's makeup as a bonding exercise. In the early hours of Day 3, he happened upon Ryely, one of the players who participated in his wall Day 2. He ended up giving her one of his personally preferred makeup palettes and taught her how to actually use it. Relationships Akio Shiori met Akio one fateful day (when he came home and found him with Cheer) and not too long after started working at Akio and Hayato's cafe. He likes Akio. Akio is good people. Their friendship has developed nicely around a love of food, cats, and Shiori showing Akio how to make a pretty choice blanket fort once. Despite being on good terms, he always feels at a loss for what to say to Akio when someone else isn't around. This is probably due to the fact that Akio started dating Cheer about the same time Shiori realized he also had feelings for their favorite redhead. He doesn't resent Akio for being with Cheer and Cheer's recent proposal to Akio cemented for Shiori that he's more happy that they're together than anything else he could possibly feel about the situation. Cheer It took these two about five minutes to start hitting each other, ending with Shiori breaking Cheer's nose. He does think it admirable that Cheer stood up for Jean when Shiori was initially confronting him. They had kind of a rocky start to both their friendship and living in the Reaper House together. Much to Shiori's surprise, when Cheer decided it was time to move out of the Reaper House, he brought Shiori with him. They moved into an apartment which Shiori thinks is way too fancy, but he only complains so he doesn't have to admit he loves it. Cheer wasn't the first person to show him compassion or care, but he was the first person he was actually open to receiving it from. Shiori covets every moment he has with Cheer and everything the redhead does for him. Cheer somehow became Shiori's sole comfort zone in Shibuya and in the beginning he rarely went out without him. Even though he's more independent now, he still feels much more at peace when Cheer is around and usually prefers his company to others. Their closeness developed quickly in the form of near-constant companionship and eventually, as soon as he was able, Cheer being overly touchy. The first Valentine's Day they knew eachother, Cheer gave Shiori a silver bracelet which only added to the confusion surrounding exactly what kind of relationship they had. Shiori famously told Cheer that he couldn't actually be in love with him, assuming most of Cheer's behavior towards him was just part of how he was and not an expression of any real feelings. Shiori had just started to realize, despite whatever Cheer might feel, that he was in love with him. The lines of their relationship became clear quickly when Cheer met Akio. Shiori took one look at the way Cheer looked at Akio and tried then and there to destroy any feelings he thought he might've had. This didn't really work, unfortunately, and he spent a turbulent time alternating between being upset and angry. He considered confronting Cheer about the situation a few times, but between feeling both like it wouldn't matter anyway and realizing he cared about Cheer and Akio's happiness more than his own, this never happened. Shiori eventually confessed his feelings to Cheer and has been struggling to get past them. Week 15 and Cheer's proposal of marriage to Akio effected Shiori differently than he always imagined it might. He was relieved to find that when Cheer broke the news to him, all he could feel was happy for these two people he'd grown to care so much for. At the end of the week, Shiori and Cheer had a talk about where they stand and agreed they're both happy with how things are. Shiori personally tried to explain to Cheer that he would still love him just as much even if he'd never fallen in love with him, but Cheer didn't quiet understand and the topic was dropped. He expressed that he'd like to become someone Cheer can rely on and is optimistic that things will be okay from here on out. Chris Shiori met Chris through Cheer and after an eventful evening with a lot of yelling and some fighting he has decided that Chris is a great guy and should come over more often. He's all about Chris' cooking (anybody's cooking really, but Chris was the first in Shibuya to offer a home cooked meal) and sometimes late in the night thinks about how great it would be to learn how to cook because of it. ("It" referring only to the soup Chris made the one time he came over to the Reaper's House. Shiori isn't known to eat well and it shows at times like this.) Haruki Shiori didn't pay much attention to his Kawasaki's Conductor after first becoming a Reaper as he spent much of that time being furious with/terrified of Jean Duvert instead. After Jean left Kawasaki, Shiori had to find another outlet for his rage and Haruki became his target. Twisting Haruki into a monster to hate wasn't exactly difficult; the Conductor hasn't been known for being a good person to begin with. Other Reapers shared his sentiment whether due to personal affront with Haruki or bitterness about how the Game was run, and he found comfort and camaraderie with them. That being said, besides blaming Haruki for his own short comings, he never actually had a real reason to hate the guy. Transferring to Shibya didn't change much at first. Forgiving Jean momentarily added to the amount of things Shiori blamed Haruki for. The longer he spent outside Kawasaki and the more accountability he gave himself for his life being the way it is now, the more he let go of the hate he created for his old boss. Though, notably, not before Haruki visited with Suzume to check in on Kasumi and Shiori and was yelled at for being a monster. This would be Shiori's last outburst since it hurt Kasumi and he realized he needed to make a change in how he was handling his emotions. The next time they spoke, Haruki asked for a favor. He wanted to come to Shibuya to see coma-struck Jean. Shiori considered saying no, but got ahold of Charles and Usa and made it happen. They talked a bit during this visit, since Jean wasn't exactly conversational, and it was at this time that Shiori apologized for blaming Haruki for his problems. This was also the first time he came to the realization that Haruki, despite being Evil Conductor Overlord™ of Kawaski, is still a person and in fact is not unlike Shiori himself. They began to talk more after this, Shiori being interested in talking to someone who experienced (or didn't, to be specific) a full emotional range in the same way. He also wanted to befriend Haruki and give himself some peace regarding his home district. Their emotional similarity provided an instant connection and Shiori didn't have to try very hard to find other things they could talk about. While the original goal of talking to Haruki may have been self serving, Shiori found himself wanting to show Haruki friendship the way everyone in Shibuya had shown him. This backfired just slightly when Shiori realized he may have accidentally developed a crush on his former boss. Hayato Akio's RG brother and Shiori's boss over at Riverbend. Shiori can't entirely explain why he feels comfortable around Hayato despite the man being pretty angry most of the time and not exactly social. He looks up to him a bit which he deflects any hint of by casually flirting with him. He doesn't seem to mean anything by these actions though and spends most of his time at the cafe being a respectful and dutiful employee. During Week 15, Shiori hosted a wall where he had a few Players come up with a way they thought they'd be able to befriend Hayato. One of them, Tomoe, was eventually offered up as sacrifice to the barista and Shiori made her promise that she;d Jean Duvert Shiori first met Jean during his game in Kawasaki where Jean ferociously hunted him due to a distaste for Shiori's attitude about other people. Jean cost Shiori two partners and almost his life over the course of that week. When Shiori opted to become a Reaper rather than replaying the game, he went out of his way to avoid Jean during the remainder of their existence in the same district. He's spent most of his time hating Jean and blaming him for not winning his game optimally. Since transferring to Shibyua, Shiori appears to have accepted that his misfortunes weren't Jean's fault. Discovering that Jean is no longer the same person he was in Kawasaki kick-started some much needed accountability for himself. He's come to be grateful rather than bitter about Jean's hand in his game. Kasumi You know that girl you stay up until 4 AM with drinking and eating fast food with? The girl who always makes you laugh even when you're having a terrible day and seems to always have time for you even when no one else does? You love that girl. Just, not the way she wants you to. Kasumi and Shiori were Players in Kawasaki during the same game. When they both became Reapers, Shiori spent a while resenting Kasumi for choosing Reaperhood instead of going back to life since she actually had the option to and he didn't. Meanwhile, Kasumi was desperately inserting herself into Shiori's life. Friends being hard to come by in Kawasaki, Shiori begrudgingly let her stick around. After a while, he stopped resenting her for her choice and started actually enjoying her company. They got into all kinds of trouble together in Kawasaki both in and out of games. Unfortunately, Shiori spent most of this time pretty jaded and wasn't actually a very good friend. When he transferred to Shibuya, he spent the first while in this new district avoiding any thought of Kawasaki; including Kasumi. He thought of her a few times, when he found himself feeling alone, but he never actually reached out. Much to his surprise, she came after him. Kasumi's transfer to Shibya caught him by surprise. Having gotten to a much better place emotionally by this time, Shiori was glad to see his old friend and hoped Shibuya would be able to do for her what it had begun to do for him. They spent their time in Shibuya together rekindling their friendship and Shiori re-introduced a non-delinquent himself to Kasumi. Tragically, the peace Shiori thought they had wouldn't last. He discovered Kasumi's romantic feelings for him and, well, things got weird. They had a confrontation and he didn't take it well. He discovered she chose Reaperhood to stay in the UG with him; that she'd spent their whole friendship pining after him. Shiori couldn't wrap his head around how any of it made sense and said some pretty terrible things to the poor girl. Eventually, he apologized and tried to start rebuilding a friendship with her. Shiori had to learn that he couldn't assume responsibility for Kasumi's feelings or subsequent actions, regardless of how they may involve him. As their relationship healed, he spent a while trying to figure out why he didn't feel the same for her. If he loved anyone, it should've been her; he argued this with himself often. Eventually, Shiori discovered his answer. Kasumi spent Christmas 2016 with the #Fam in Cheer's apartment. Shiori was feeling pretty good about their friendship. He presented her with matching charm bracelets and resolved that he'd tell her soon why he couldn't return her feelings. A few days later, he did just that. Shiori came out as gay to Kasumi as both an act of self-acceptance and with the hope that it would help ease her pain over him not returning her feelings. This...backfired. He expected her to cry and went into the situation prepared to be as selfless as possible and comfort his friend; instead she started screaming. With a couple of threats, Kasumi told him to get out and he did just that. They haven't really spoken since then. Kasumi requested to return to Kawasaki and left without saying anything to Shiori. He tried to text her once only to have Cheer end up intervening and telling her off. He's been trying to put her out of his mind, but he's pretty broken up about losing her. Makoto During Shiori's time in Kawasaki, it would be difficult to say he had many friends. He spent most of his time there jaded and lost, constantly seeking something to hold on to and never finding it. There was one Reaper in Kawasaki who tended to keep an eye out for Reapers like Shiori and his struggles were no exception to her keen watch. Makoto always seemed to be around when Shiori was at a low point. At first, her advice and attempts at nudging Shiori in the right direction were obnoxious. Shiori didn't initially appreciate some random Reaper telling him how to be and what to do. Eventually though, Makoto became a comforting constant. When Shiori finally fell to his lowest point in Kawasaki, Makoto provided him with the means to get to a better place. This time, he wouldn't say no. She convinced Haruki it would be beneficial if Shiori was transferred to Shibuya an the rest is history. A great source of regret for Shiori is never having had the chance to say thank you. Once she felt Shiori had been settled in Shibuya fine, Makoto self erased. She left Shiori with most of her possessions in one last grand gesture of taking care of him. Shiori likely won't talk about the impact Makoto has had on his life, but he isn't going to forget her any time soon. Yuki Shiori met Yuki while the Kyoto Officer was visiting Akio. The initial wave of "this guy is pretty rad" versus "did that jerk steal my food" was a little difficult to navigate but Shiori landed solidly on deciding Yuki is, similar to Akio, good people. They bonded over some disdain for romance, though different respectively with Yuki being aromantic and Shiori just being bitter. Shortly after solidifying their friendship, Yuki was met with crisis and Cheer provided Shiori with the means to leave for Kyoto. Shiori stayed with Yuki almost a week then and would visit more often if travel between districts was more lenient. He considers Yuki to, finally, be the first un-complicated friend he's ever had. While he'll never say it out loud, he's immensely grateful for Yuki's general existence and the friendship that was offered to him. Unnamed RG Friend Was Shiori's only real friend while he was alive. Whereas his trouble-making friends were more trouble than friend, this guy was someone Shiori could have counted on if he had been more appreciative of what he had. While Shiori remained in Kawasaki he kept tabs on him, though admittedly never actually interacted with him. Now that he's in Shibuya, he's much less likely to know the status of the only person he cared about leaving behind. He Trivia *Shiori often writes notes to himself in his phone; usually about other people. These notes vary from things like "doesn't like spicy food", various relationship statuses, and even "takes four hour long showers in almost complete silence and scares the crap out of me". *The charm which hangs from his phone matches the one his friend from the RG has. He can be caught fidgeting with this often, though if pointed out he's likely to pocket the phone and fidget with the charm where no one can see. Gallery Shiori002.png|DreamSelfy Edit Erminea_Bellicoso.png‎|Shiori's Noise; Erminea Bellicoso Shio.png|Full Body Reference Category:Reapers Category:Week 14 Category:Shopkeeper Category:Week 15 Category:Support Reaper